So to close that gap, Mojang is launching the Minecraft Marketplace - a store where players can buy Minecraft customizations made by independent developers. It's coming to Minecraft for smartphones and Windows 10 this Spring, alongside the big "1.1 Discovery Update."

Mojang

Once the Marketplace launches, players will be able to buy virtual Minecraft Coins for real money. Those coins can be spent in the Minecraft Marketplace on new levels, characters, textures, and other ways to customize the game. These items will be optional, and Mojang will still support the game with free content, says Minecraft Realms Executive Producer John Thornton.

These are no mere surface-level customizations. At launch, custom levels will include pirate adventures, a time travel trip to historic London, and a quest across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Marketplace items will start at the equivalent of $1.99, Thornton says, and the selection will be "epic."

Pure BD Craft is a pack designed to make Minecraft look a little bit more like a comic book.Mojang

But the best news is for independent developers, says Thornton, as Mojang plans to give developers "more than 50%" of each purchase, he says, with Apple, Google, or Microsoft's app stores getting their usual 30% cut and Mojang taking the rest.

Now, Blockworks can offer premium Minecraft creations like "Automation Dreams" and "Scorching Sands" through a Mojang-approved store, directly to players, in a way that makes it easy for them to load up and play. Delaney calls it "a big step forward" for developers building businesses in Minecraft.

&quotRise Of Londinium," launching with the Minecraft Marketplace, takes you on a Minecraft-ified adventure through London past and present.Mojang

There are some caveats: Mojang is seeking a higher caliber of Marketplace content, and so developers will have to submit a business license before their Minecraft add-ons will even be reviewed for listing. That means that it's going to be harder, but not impossible, for the 12-year-old Minecraft fan in your life to begin a burgeoning career as a Minecraft Marketplace superstar.

"There's certainly a level of professionalism and dedication [we expect]," says Thornton. "There's nothing to say that a 12 year old couldn't have that."

The Stone Age Texture Pack makes everything look a little more Flinstones-y.Mojang

Thornton also wants Minecraft's 55 million monthly active players to know that while the Minecraft Marketplace and Minecraft's smartphone version are major focuses for Mojang, the PC and Mac version isn't going away: He says that Mojang currently has more developers working on the original game now than it did when the Microsoft acquisition closed in 2014.